Load handling pallets and load strapping means

ABSTRACT

Load strapping means for use with 4-way pallet comprises a cap ( 11 ) for placing on a load ( 17 ) on a 4-way pallet ( 16 ), at least two strapping strands ( 15 ) retractable through openings ( 26 ) into housings ( 14 ) at opposite sides (at least) of the cap, spring means within the housings for retracting the strapping strands, hooks ( 18 ) on the free ends of the strapping strands for engagement with the underside ( 21 ) of the platform ( 22 ) of a 4-way pallet, tensioning means within the housings for tightening the strapping strands between the cap and the pallet after interposing a load between the cap and the pallet, and stop means ( 34 ) for limiting retraction of the hooks into the housings when not engaged with a pallet. Such a cap ( 11 ) can be used without need to modify existing 4-way pallets, particularly—but not exclusively—those made of wood. Each hook ( 18 ) preferably has two prongs ( 19 ) spaced apart so as to fit one to each side of a middle spacer ( 20 ) of a 4-way pallet, without being in danger of damage or dislodgement by the forks of a fork-lift truck.

This invention relates to load handling pallets and load strappingmeans.

It is known to provide a reel unit for incorporation in a load handlingpallet, e.g., a 4-way pallet, comprising a housing, a shaft rotatablymounted within the housing, a drum mounted on and rotatable with theshaft, a strapping strand, e.g., a strap, wound on the drum, an openingin the housing through which the strapping strand emerges, attachmentmeans on the free end of the strapping. strand for securing the strandtoa load on a pallet or for securing to anchorage means on a palletafter passing the strand over a load on the pallet, a rewind springcoiled round the shaft alongside the drum, stop means preventing theattachment means being drawn through the opening into the housing by theaction of the rewind spring, a ratchet concentric with the drum androtatable with the drum and shaft, with a pawl for engaging teeth on theratchet to stop or prevent pulling of the strapping strand from thedrum, means for effecting engagement of the pawl with the ratchet, andmanually operable means is provided for tensioning the strapping strandwhen the pawl has been engaged with a tooth on the ratchet.

A pallet is described in EP-A-0 585 832 with reel units securedalongside spacer blocks below one side of the load receiving platform ofthe pallet, the strapping strands are straps, and the attachment meansare loops for engagement with ski-tensioner type anchorage means inhousings secured alongside spacer blocks below the opposite side of theplatform. Alternatively, tensioning devices could be incorporated in thestraps, or in the reel units, one form of the latter having a secondratchet concentric with the drum and rotatable with the drum and shaft,with a second pawl for engaging the teeth of the second ratchet toprevent rewind of the strap, a manually-operable change-over means beingprovided for selectively rendering one or other of the pawlsinoperative, and tension being applied to the belt by a lever operateddrive pinion engaged with a driven gearwheel secured on the shaft.

Another pallet is described in JP-A-10167267 with reel units secured onein a corresponding outer side of each of four corner spacers mouldedintegrally with a load receiving platform, the strapping strands arestraps, and the attachment means are loops while the anchorage means arehooks within the outer sides of the corner spacers not occupied by thereel housings, which housings also carry lever mechanisms for tensioningthe straps when the pawls are engaged with the ratchets.

Although the reel units in EP-A-0 585 832 can be readily added toexisting 4-way pallets, many of which are made of wood, they are proneto damage because of being. located where contact can take place withforks of the fork-lift trucks. On the other hand, while the reel unitsin JP-A-10167267 are protected somewhat from the forks of fork-lifttrucks by being incorporated in the corner spacers, such pallets areexpensive and so are not likely to replace the millions of existing4-way pallets.

One object of the present invention is, therefore, the provision of loadstrapping means for use wit existing 4-way pallets, particularly—but notexclusively—those made of wood.

According to the present invention, load strapping means for use with4-way pallets comprises a cap for placing on a load on a 4-way pallet,at least two strapping strands retractable through openings intohousings at opposite sides of the cap, spring means for retracting thestrapping strands, hooks on the free ends of the strapping strands forengagement with the underside of the platform of a 4-way pallet,tensioning means for tightening the strapping strands between the capand the pallet after interposing a load between the cap and the pallet,and stop means for limiting retraction of the hooks into the housingswhen not engaged with a pallet.

Preferably, four strapping strands are provided, retractable intohousings one on each side of the cap; and the positions of the housingsin the cap preferably causes disposition of their openings to correspondto the middle spacers of a pallet. Alternatively, the cap may be in theform of a ‘spider’ constituted by four housings conjoined in acruciform, and the housings may be hinged together at the ends remotefrom their openings, to enable the spider to be collapsed into a compactbundle for delivery or return to a distributor.

However, because many loads to be palletized require overall caps todistribute strapping and/or stacking loads, e.g., products such asfoodstuffs in cardboard boxes and/or cartons, or caps with dependingflanges to embrace loads made up of a plurality of boxes and/or cartons,it may be convenient to provide the housings within the thickness of thecap.

Each strapping strand may be a wire or nonmetallic rope retractablywound spirally on a ‘thin’ reel within the respective housing and havinga short cylindrical core between annular flanges spaced apart bynegligibly more than the overall diameter of the rope, so that the ropewill be wound spirally on the core, the axis of the reel beingperpendicular to the general plane of the cap, the core being on a shaftrotatably mounted within the housing, there also being provided a rewindspring coiled round the shaft alongside the reel, stop means limitingthe extent to which the hook can be drawn into the housing by the actionof the rewind spring, a ratchet concentric with the reel and rotatablewith the reel and shaft, with a pawl for engaging teeth on the ratchetto stop or prevent pulling of the rope from the reel, andmanually-operable means for tensioning the rope when the pawl has beenengaged with a tooth on the ratchet, particularly characterized in thateach tooth of the ratchet has a pawl-engageable face inclined forwardlyfrom its radially inner end with respect to a radial line from the axisof be shaft through said radially inner end of said face and withrespect to the direction of unwinding of the rope from the reel, thepawl has a complementary face for mutual engagement with said face ofany one tooth of the ratchet, the pawl is provided with spring-loadingmeans with manually-operable means for changing the effect of thespring-loading over between urging the pawl into engagement with theratchet and towards a position holding the pawl clear of the ratchet,and in that the manually-operable tensioning means is by way of aseparate wrench engageable with one end of the shaft. The angle ofinclination of said face of each tooth of the ratchet is preferably atleast 10° to said radial line from the axis of the shaft.

Having installed this reel unit in a cap to bear on a load on a palletwith the manually-operable changeover means for the spring-loading meansof the pawl set to hold the pawl clear of the ratchet, the rope can beunwound from the reel, as by pulling the hook, to whatever extent isrequired or to enable the rope to be secured to the pallet by the hook,then the manually-operable change-over means is set for thespring-loading means to urge the pawl into engagement with the ratchet,whereupon the manually-operable tensioning means can be operated totension the rope. Because of the mating complementary inclined faces ofthe pawl and any one of the teeth of the ratchet that it engages, themanually-operable change-over means can be set to the position in whichthe spring-loading means urges the pawl towards the position clear ofthe ratchet but without withdrawing the pawl from the ratchet until,when it is desired to release the load from the pallet, slightadditional tensioning of the rope. effected as by means of a separatewrench applied to the shaft, the consequent slight rotation of theratchet causes the mating complementary faces of the pawl and theengaged tooth to be separated enough for the spring-loading means towithdraw the pawl clear of the ratchet, whereafter the hook can bereleased from the pallet, so that the rewind spring is free to act onthe shaft to enable the rope to be rewound on to the reel.

The spring-loading means is preferably a flexible tongue formedintegrally with the pawl, and the manually-operable change-over meanscomprises a knob on the free end of the tongue of the pawl manuallymovable from one side of a projection on the housing to the other sideof the projection, and the projection is preferably also resilient.

Because of the ‘thinness’ of such a reel, a pair of reels may beincorporated on a single shaft within a housing, with a single rewindspring, ratchet and pawl, the two openings from the housing for the tworopes being provided at sides of the cap adjacent to each other, asimilar double-reel unit being provided for ropes to openings at theother two adjacent sides of the cap.

Alternatively, each strapping strand may be a strap, there being withinthe respective housing parallel guides between ends of the housing, atone end of which is the opening, a crosshead slidable along the guidestowards and away from the opening, the crosshead being mainlyconstituted by crossbars of graduated diameters; a fixed array ofgraduated crossbars adjacent the opposite end of the housing from thecrosshead, the axes of the crossbars in the crosshead and the fixedarray all being in a common plane with the smallest diameter crossbarsbeing the nearest to each other, the strap having its inner end securedto one of the smallest diameter crossbars and being lapped inmulti-purchase array round the other smallest diameter crossbar and eachsuccessively greater diameter crossbar in the crosshead and fixed arrayin turn, and with the final lap of the strap emerging from the openingin the housing, and spring means to urge the crosshead away from thefixed array; the total length of strap that can be accommodated beingprincipally dependent on the number and lengths of laps between thecrosshead and the fixed array, and the number of laps being determinedby the number of crossbars in the crosshead and in the fixed array (e.g.three crossbars in one and two in the other giving five laps), thediameters of the crossbars can be but a few millimetres each consistentwith being strong enough to carry the loads in the strap generated bythe spring means.

The crossbars, in both the crosshead and in the fixed array, other thanthat smallest one to which the strap is secured, may be rollersrotatable with respect to side cheeks of the crosshead slidable alongthe guides or side cheeks secured to or integral with one end of thehousing; or some or all of them may be non-rotatable and provided withlow friction surfaces.

The guides may be channels along which slide wings on the crosshead andaccommodating coil compression springs. Alternatively the guides may bebars passing through the crosshead and encircled by coil compressionsprings. Alternatively, the spring means may be a tension spring orsprings.

The tensioning means may be a lever mechanism with an over-centrelocking action, or with a rotational device within the housing adjacentthe opening with a push-lock action or spring catch.

The stop means for preventing the hook being drawn through the openinginto the housing may be afforded by making the hook wider than theopening, and the latter may be recessed within the housing end so thatthe hook will not project significantly therefrom when the strap isfully retracted. Alternatively a recess may be provided in the undersideof the cap or lid for engagement by the hook

Each hook preferably has two prongs spaced apart by at least the widthof a middle spacer of a pallet, so that the prongs can engage theunderside of the platform one to each side of the spacer, without beingin danger of damage or dislodgement by the forks of a fork-lift truck.Conveniently, when not engaged with a pallet the hooks engage thehousings around the opening, the housings thus constituting the stopmeans; and the openings are preferably recessed with respect to thesides of the cap, so that when not engaged with a pallet the hooks areshrouded within the sides of the cap where they cannot cause injury topersonnel.

The cap may be nestable within similar caps and/or with a pallet, forconvenience when returning caps and pallets to a distributor.

A transponder may be incorporated in the cap, to enable the cap and/orload secured thereby on a pallet to be tracked or traced.

Three embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cap in accordance with the inventionincorporating a pair of units in which retractable straps are stored;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the cap of FIG. 1 in use securing aload on a pallet;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a cap in accordance with the inventionincorporating four units with retractable straps;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of part of FIG. 1 to a largerscale;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the same part of FIG. 1 to alarger scale and with the top part of the housing of the unit removed;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the same part as seen inFIG. 2 to a larger scale and again with the top part of the housingremoved;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the other end of the unitwith the top part of the housing removed and the exposed parts of themechanism in positions corresponding to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5;

FIG. 8 is a similar view to FIG. 7 but showing the exposed parts inpositions corresponding to FIGS. 2 and 6;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal vertical section through both ends of the unitwith the parts of the mechanism in positions corresponding to FIGS. 1, 4and 5;

FIG. 10 is a similar view to FIG. 9 but showing only the outer end ofthe unit with the parts of the mechanism in positions corresponding toFIGS. 2 and 6.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic plan view of a cap in accordance with theinvention incorporating four retractable strapping ropes;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of the cap of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged detailed fragmentary section on the line A—A inFIG. 11;

FIG. 14 corresponds to FIG. 11 but shows the strapping ropes drawn outto secure a load on a pallet; and

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of part of FIG. 14 showingthe detail of tensioning-locking mechanism for two of the ropes.

In FIG. 1 a rectangular cap 11 having flanges 12 along all four sideshas a recess 13 accommodating two units 14 for retractable straps 15(only one being visible) for use with a pallet 16, see FIG. 2, forsecuring a load 17 thereon, each strap having at a free end thereofattachment means in the form of a two-pronged hook 18 having its prongs19 spaced apart by at least the width of a middle spacer 20 of thepallet so as to be able to engage anchorage means 21 constituted by theunderside of the platform 22 of the pallet with a prong to each side ofthe spacer.

In FIG. 3 a cap 11X has three recesses 13X, 13Y, 13Z accommodating fourunits 14 for retractable straps(none being visible) for use with apallet (not shown) in similar manner to that shown in FIG. 2 butaffording greater secureness of a load on the pallet.

The construction of a unit 14 and its mechanisms for tensioning itsstrap 15 and also for retracting its strap, will now be described indetail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 10.

The unit 14 comprises a housing formed by separable parts, a lower part23 and an upper part 24, parallel guides 25 longitudinally of thehousing, an opening 26 adjacent one end of the housing for emergence ofthe strap 15 stored within the housing; a crosshead 27 slidable alongthe guides towards and away from the opening, the crosshead beingprincipally constituted by crossbars 28, 29, 30 of graduated diameters;a fixed array of graduated crossbars 31, 32 adjacent the opposite end ofthe housing from the crosshead (i.e. adjacent the opening 26), the axesof the crossbars in the crosshead and in the fixed array all beingparallel and in a common plane with the smaller diameter crossbars 28,31 being the nearest to each other; the strap 15 having its end remotefrom the attachment means 18 secured to the smallest diameter crossbar28 of the crosshead 27 and being lapped in multi-purchase array roundthe other smallest crossbar 31 and each successively greater diametercrossbar, 29, 32, 30 in the crosshead and the fixed array in turn andwith th final lap emerging from the opening 26 in the housing 23, 24 andbeing secured to the hook 18; spring means constituted by coilcompression springs 33 to urge the crosshead 27 away from the fixedarray of crossbars 31, 32; stop means 34 for limiting the extent towhich the attachment means(i.e., the hook 18) can be drawn into thehousing by the action of the spring means urging the crosshead away fromthe fixed array; and manually-operable means 35 (to be described indetail presently) for tensioning the strap 15 between the housing andthe attachment means after the strap has been disposed for securing aload on a pallet, as shown in FIG. 2.

The manually-operable tensioning means 35 comprises a cross-pin 36fixedly mounted parallel to the fixed array of crossbars 31, 32 andbetween that array and the opening 26, a U-shaped lever 37 on an axis 38parallel to the cross-pin and mounted between that cross-pin and theopening 26, and a slotted crossbar 39 having an axis parallel to butoffset from axis 38 between the arms of the lever extending parallel tothe cross-pin and adapted to be swung, by movement of the lever from aninoperative position (see FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9) to a locking position(see FIGS. 6 and 10), from a position remote from the cross-pin (seeparticularly FIG. 9) to a position closely adjacent the cross-pin (seeparticularly FIG. 10), the slot 40 in the crossbar 39 being of a widthand disposed such that when the crossbar 39 is in its position remotefrom the cross-pin 36 the strap 15 passes freely through the slot (asshown in FIG. 9) and whereby as the crossbar 39 is being swung towardsits position closely adjacent the cross-pin (by swinging of the lever 37from the inoperative position to locking position) the strap 15 istensioned by being wrapped round the crossbar 39 into an S-shape andpartially round the cross-pin 36 as the crossbar 39 approaches thecross-pin (as shown in FIG. 10).

The throw of the lever 37 is about 180° and will suffice to applyconsiderable tension to the strap 15 after the hook 18 has been engagedwith a pallet and slack in the strap has been taken up by the springmeans 33 urging the crosshead 27 away from the fixed array of crossbars31, 32.

Spring or detent means may be provided to retain the lever 37 in lockingposition, but friction between the strap 15 and the cross-pin 36 may besufficient to retain the lever in locking position, especially if anipping of the strap 15 between the crossbar 39 and the cross-pin 36results from the closeness of approach of the crossbar 39 to thecross-pin.

Swinging of the lever 37 is effected by grasping the handlebar 41between the arms 42 of the lever. In the inoperative position the leveris protected from accidental contact by a pair of cheeks 43 which areextended downwardly to provide protection also for the hook 18. A pairof slots 44 in the upper part 24 of the housing accommodates the arms 42of the lever as they swing from inoperative position to lockingposition, in which latter position the handlebar 41 of the lever isaccommodated in a groove 45 between the slots 44 thus protecting it fromaccidental contact.

The coil compression springs 33 are shown encircling rigid strips 46extending the full length of the lower part 23 of the housing, merely tohold the springs 33 in place during assembly, as slight pre-compressionin the springs would otherwise cause them to bow and spring out.

In FIGS. 11 to 15 a rectangular cap 51 having flanges 52 along all foursides has a housing 53 accommodating two reel units 54 each comprising apair of reels 55 on a single shaft 56, with a single rewind spring 57,ratchet 58 and pawl 59. On each reel 55 is spirally wound a wire ornonmetallic rope 60 extending from its reel to an opening 61 in a sideof the housing 53, the two openings for either of th two ropes fromeither twin-reel unit 54 being provided at sides of the cap 51 adjacentto each other.

Hooks 18 on the free ends of the rope 60 are again provided with twoprongs 19 each spaced apart by at least the width of middle spacers 20of a pallet 16 (see FIG. 14), so that the prongs can engage theunderside of the platform of the pallet one to each side of a middlespacer after the cap 51 has been placed on a load 17 on the pallet andthe hooks pulled down to draw the ropes 60 from the housing 53. Eachhook 18 has a wider span than the width of the respective opening 61 inthe housing, so as constitute stop means limiting the extent to whichthe hooks can be drawn into the housing.

As can be seen in FIG. 13 each reel 55 has a short cylindrical core onthe shaft 56 between annular flanges 62 (the middle flange being commonto both reels) spaced apart by negligibly more than the overall diameterof the ropes 60, so that the ropes, being wound spirally, will not bindwithin the reels. The shaft 56 rotatably mounted in the housing 53 andthe ratchet 58 is rotatable with the reels 55 and the shaft 56, which isprovided at one end with a square socket 63 (see FIG. 15) engageable bya separate wrench (not shown) constituting manually-operable means foreffecting tensioning of the ropes 60 after engagement of the hooks 18with a pallet 16 as described above.

The pawl 59 is mounted on a pivot 64 to enable it to be engaged withteeth 65 on the ratchet 58 to stop or prevent pulling of the ropes 60from the reels 55. Each tooth 65 has a pawl-engageable face 66 inclinedforwardly from its radially inner end with respect to a radial line 67from the axis of the shaft 56 through said radially inner end of saidface and with respect to the direction of unwinding of the ropes 60 fromthe reels 55, and the pawl 59 has a complementary face 68 for mutualengagement with said face 66 of any one tooth 65 of the ratchet 58. Thepawl 59 is provided with spring-loading means (in the form of a flexibletongue 69) with manually-operable change-over means (in the form of aknob 70 on the end of the tongue movable from one side to the other of aflexible projection 71 on the housing 53) for changing the effect of thespring-loading over between urging the pawl 59 into engagement with theratchet 58 (as shown in full line in FIG. 15) and towards a positionholding the pawl clear of the ratchet (as shown in ‘dash-dot’ line inFIG. 15). The angle of inclination of said face 66 of each tooth 65 ofthe ratchet 58 is at least 10° to said radial line 67 from the axis ofthe shaft 56.

With the manually-operable change-over means 70 for the spring-loadingmeans 69 of the pawl 59 set to hold the pawl clear of the ratchet 58 (asshown in ‘dash-dot’ line in FIG. 15), the ropes 60 can be unwound fromthe reels, as by pulling the hooks 18, to whatever extent is required toenable the ropes to be secured to a pallet 16 as aforesaid, then themanually-operable change-over means 70 is set for the spring-loadingmeans 69 to urge the pawl 59 into engagement with the ratchet 58,whereupon the manually-operable tensioning means (i.e., a separatewrench engaged with the square socket 63 in one end of the shaft 56) canbe operated to tension the ropes. Because the mating complementaryinclined faces 68,66 of the pawl any one of the teeth 65 of the ratchet58 that it engages, the manually-operable change-over means 70 can beset to the position (shown in ‘dash-dot’ line in FIG. 15) in which thespring-loading means 69 urges the pawl 59 towards the position clear ofthe ratchet 58 but without withdrawing the pawl from the ratchet until,when it is desired to release the load 17 from the pallet 16, slightadditional tensioning of the ropes 60 (effected by means of the separatewrench again applied to the shaft 56) the consequent slight rotation ofthe ratchet 58 causing the mating complementary faces 68, 66 of the pawl59 and the engaged tooth 65 to be separated enough for thespring-loading means 69 to withdraw the pawl clear of the rachet (i.e.back to the position shown in ‘dash-dot’ line in FIG. 15), whereafterthe hooks 18 can be released from the pallet 16, so that the rewindspring 57 is free to act on the shaft 56 to enable the ropes 60 to berewound onto the reels 55.

It will be appreciated that, while a primary object is to provide loadstrapping means for use with 4-way pallets, the caps described hereincan be used with 2-way pallets especially ones with only two strappingstrands each at opposite sides of the cap, such as described withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

What is claimed is:
 1. Load strapping means for use with 4-way palletscomprising: a cap for placing on a load on a 4-way pallet, at least twostrapping strands retractable through openings into housings at oppositesides of the cap, spring means for retracting the strapping strands,hooks on the free ends of the strapping strands for engagement with theunderside of the platform of a 4-way pallet, tensioning means fortightening the strapping strands between the cap and the pallet afterinterposing a load between the cap and the pallet, and stop means forlimiting retraction of the hooks into the housings when not engaged witha pallet.
 2. Load strapping means as in claim 1, characterized in thatthe cap has depending flanges to embrace loads made up of a plurality ofboxes and/or cartons and the housings are provided within the thicknessof the cap.
 3. Load strapping means as in claim 1, characterized in thatfour strapping strands are provided, retractable into housings one oneach side of the cap.
 4. Load strapping means as in claim 3,characterized in that the positions of the housings in the cap causesdisposition of their openings to correspond to the middle spacers of apallet.
 5. Load strapping means as in claim 1, characterized in thateach hook has two prongs spaced apart by at least the width of a middlespacer of a pallet, so that the prongs can engage the underside of theplatform one to each side of the spacer without being in danger ofdamage or dislodgement by the forks of a fork-lift truck.
 6. Loadstrapping means as in claim 5, characterized in that when not engagedwith a pallet the hooks engage the housings around the opening, thehousings thus constituting the stop means.
 7. Load strapping means as inclaim 1, characterized in that each strapping strand is a wire ornon-metallic rope retractably wound spirally on a reel within therespective housing and having a short cylindrical core between annularflanges spaced apart by negligibly more than the overall diameter of therope, so that the rope will be wound spirally on the core, the axis ofthe reel being perpendicular to the general plane of the cap, the corebeing on a shaft rotatably mounted within the housing, there also beingprovided a rewind spring coiled round the shaft alongside the reel, stopmeans limiting the extent to which the hook can be drawn into thehousing by the action of the rewind spring, a ratchet concentric withthe reel and rotatable with the reel and shaft, with a pawl for engagingteeth on the ratchet to stop or prevent pulling of the rope from thereel, and manually-operable means for tensioning the rope when the pawlhas been engaged with a tooth on the ratchet, and particularlycharacterized in that each tooth of the ratchet has a pawl-engageableface inclined forwardly from its radially inner end with respect to aradial line from the axis of the shaft through said radially inner endof said face and with respect to the direction of unwinding of the ropefrom the reel, the pawl has a complementary face for mutual engagementwith said face of any one tooth of the ratchet, the pawl is providedwith spring-loading means with manually-operable means for changing theeffect of the spring-loading over between urging the pawl intoengagement with the ratchet and towards a position holding the pawlclear of the ratchet, and in that the manually-operable tensioning meansis by way of a separate wrench engageable with one end of the shaft. 8.Load strapping means as in claim 7, characterized in that the angle ofinclination of said face of each tooth of the ratchet is at least 10° tosaid radial line from the axis of the shaft.
 9. Load strapping means asin claim 7, characterized in that a pair or reels is incorporated on asingle shaft within a housing, with a single rewind spring, ratchet andpawl, the two openings from the housing for the two ropes being providedat sides of the cap adjacent to each other, a similar double-reel unitbeing provided for ropes to openings at the other two adjacent sides ofthe cap.
 10. Load strapping means as in claim 7, characterized in thatthe spring-loading means is a flexible tongue formed integrally with thepawl, and the manually-operable change-over means comprises a knob onthe free end of the tongue of the pawl manually movable from one side ofa projection on the housing to the other side of the projection. 11.Load strapping means as in claim 10, characterized in that theprojection is resilient.
 12. Load strapping means as in claim 1,characterized in that each strapping strand is a strap, there beingwithin the respective housing parallel guides between ends of thehousing, at one end of which is the opening; a crosshead slidable alongthe guides towards and away from the opening, the crosshead being mainlyconstituted by crossbars of graduated diameters; a fixed array ofgraduated crossbars adjacent the opposite end of the housing from thecrosshead, the axes of the crossbars in the crosshead and the fixedarray all being in a common plane with the smallest diameter crossbarsbeing the nearest to each other, the strap having its inner end securedto one of the smallest diameter crossbars and being lapped inmulti-purchase array round the other smallest diameter crossbar and eachsuccessively greater diameter crossbar in the crosshead and fixed arrayin turn, and with the final lap of the strap emerging from the openingin the housing, and spring means to urge the crosshead away from thefixed array; the total length of strap that can be accommodated beingprincipally dependent on the number and lengths of laps between thecrosshead and the fixed array, and the number of laps being determinedby the number of crossbars in the crosshead and in the fixed array. 13.Load strapping means as in claim 12, characterized in that there arethree crossbars in the crosshead and two crossbars in the fixed array.14. Load strapping means as in claim 12, characterized in that thecrossbars, in both the crosshead and in the fixed array, other than thatsmallest one to which the strap is secured, are rollers rotatable withrespect to side cheeks of the crosshead slidable along the guides orside cheeks secured to or integral with one end of the housing.
 15. Loadstrapping means as in claim 12, characterized in that some or all of thecrossbars are non-rotatable and provided with low friction surfaces. 16.Load strapping means as in claim 12, characterized in that the guidesare channels along which slide wings on the crosshead and accommodatingcoil compression springs.
 17. Load strapping means as in claim 12,characterized in that the guides are bars passing through the crossheadand encircled by coil compression springs.
 18. Load strapping means asin claim 12, characterized in that the spring means is a tension springor springs.
 19. Load strapping means as in claim 12, characterized inthat the tensioning means is a lever mechanism with an over-centrelocking action.
 20. Load strapping means as in claim 12, characterizedin that the tensioning means is a lever mechanism with a rotationaldevice within the housing adjacent the opening with a push-lock action.21. Load strapping means as in claim 12, characterized in that thetensioning means is a lever mechanism with a rotational device withinthe housing adjacent the opening with a spring catch.
 22. Load strappingmeans as in claim 12, characterized in that the stop means forpreventing the hook being drawn through the opening into the housing isafforded by making the hook wider than the opening.
 23. Load strappingmeans as in claim 22, characterized in that the opening is recessedwithin the housing end so that the hook will not project significantlytherefrom when the strap is fully retracted.